Perception or Reality? The Science of Mirror Neurons
- Website Tech
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by: Gulara Allahverdi
Edited by: Aylin Abbasi
Imagine you are watching a video of lice crawling in someone’s hair, and suddenly, your scalp starts itching. But why? Why do you get the sensation that you have lice on your head even though you know that you do not?
This phenomenon occurs because of a combination of psychological and neurological processes happening inside your brain.
Mirror Neurons: Your Brain’s Natural Imitators
Your brain is made up of billions of neurons, each with its own specific function. The neurons responsible for the above discussed phenomenon are mirror neurons. Mirror neurons activate either when you perform an action or when you see another person doing the same action (Jankowiak-Siuda et al., 2011).
These neurons play a major role in empathy, learning through observation, and understanding others’ intentions and emotions. In other words, these neurons help “mirror” someone else's emotions and actions in your brain so you can better understand them (Jankowiak-Siuda et al., 2011).
How Do Mirror Neurons Work?
But how is that possible? How can someone else’s feelings and emotions end up in your brain? The simple answer is the evolution of the brain.
The brain is an exceptionally complex organ that has been developing for hundreds of millions of years. As a result, it has learned to use one’s past experiences to interpret and understand how another person is feeling. That is one way mirror neurons work (Rajmohan & Mohandas, 2007). For example, most of us have experienced an itchy scalp before, and we know that lice typically cause that sensation. So when your brain sees a video of lice crawling in someone’s hair, it uses your existing knowledge of what lice feel like on the head and connects the image you are seeing to a past memory of having an itchy scalp. This process triggers an itching sensation on your head, even when there is no real reason for your scalp to itch. Mirror neurons are also automatic (Jankowiak-Siuda et al., 2011). This means that they do not wait for you to decide what emotion to feel but instead activate immediately.
Key Parts of Brain Involved
There are several key parts of the brain crucial for the functioning of the mirror neuron system: the Premotor Cortex, Inferior Parietal Lobule, Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), Anterior Insula, and Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS).
The Premotor Cortex is involved in motor planning and imitation. This part of the cerebral cortex is responsible for activating mirror neurons when you either perform an action yourself or observe someone else performing the same action (Kilner & Lemon, 2013).
The Inferior Parietal Lobule works closely with the Premotor Cortex by interpreting and analyzing the observed action, helping you understand what the other person is doing and why (Kilner & Lemon, 2013).
The Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) is part of the limbic system, which is the emotion-processing system of the brain. It helps process emotional responses and physical pain, so you can feel emotional empathy towards others who are in pain or distress. The Anterior Insula is also responsible for processing emotional states, but it is more specifically associated with the processing of disgust (Kilner & Lemon, 2013).
Finally, the Superior temporal Sulcus (STS) tracks motion, facial cues, tones and eye gaze of others, helping you detect and understand others’ emotions and intentions (Kilner & Lemon, 2013).
The Discovery of Mirror Neurons
Mirror neurons were discovered in 1992. During an experiment with monkeys, scientists implanted electrodes in the monkeys’ premotor cortex and noticed something surprising: they saw that the same neurons fired not only when the monkey grasped a peanut, but also when they observed a human perform the same action (Rajmohan & Mohandas, 2007). In other words, the neurons seemed to “mirror” the humans’ motions to understand them on a deeper emotional level.
You experience this phenomenon in real life everyday. For example, when hearing someone shout “Help!”, you may suddenly feel alarmed or scared, even though nothing has happened directly to you. This is because your brain mirrors others’emotions just by hearing their voice. Another example is when you start crying during an emotional scene in a movie: the characters are fictional and nothing has happened to you in real life, yet your brain mirrors the characters’ emotional states as if their experiences are your own.
Conclusion
Although mirror neurons have reshaped how scientists study and understand empathy and social cognition, this topic is still widely debated due to its evolving nature (Rajmohan & Mohandas, 2007). As a result, some of the ideas researchers currently hold may change as new research emerge. However, for now, this is the best understanding science has to offer. The brain remains incredibly complex, and many aspects of how mirror neurons function are still unknown, waiting for future scientists like you to uncover them.
References
Jankowiak-Siuda, K., Rymarczyk, K., & Grabowska, A. (2011). How we empathize with others: A neurobiological perspective. Medical Science Monitor, 17(1), RA18–RA24. https://doi.org/10.12659/msm.881324
Kilner, J. M., & Lemon, R. N. (2013). What we know currently about mirror neurons. Current Biology, 23(23), R1057–R1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.10.051
Rajmohan, V., & Mohandas, E. (2007). Mirror neuron system. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 49(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.31522